Souvenirs souvenirs

Hailed in the eighties as the French equivalent of "American graffiti" , Ariel Zeitoun does not compare favorably with the American classic ; as far as the soundtrack is concerned ,only the tracks taken from the records sound "early sixties": Hallyday's "Souvenirs ,Souvenirs" and "Tes Tendres Années " ,,Sylvie Vartan's "Tous Mes Copains " and even Sheila 's "Papa T'Es Plus Dans L'coup" -the latter being an anachronism ,being heard for Xmas party 62,whereas it was released in early 63.Plus a nice "Apache" cover.That's all.Christophe Malavoy's band, on the other hand , sounds like a poor man's Dire Straits in the final sequences .

The screenplay tells the story of two brothers ;the most interesting ,that of the eldest ,who comes back from Algerian war ,is botched ;who could believe Marlene Jobert is an ambitious manager ? The same goes for Claude Brasseur. When a singer began his career before being drafted ,it was very hard for him to make his come back : Johnny Halliday and Eddy Mitchell are notable exceptions ;but the interminable military service (at the time ) took its toll and ruined many careers and true French rock died on the vine ;Ariel Zeitoun shows it ,through Sylvie Vartan's song,but he does it cowardly...

As for the story of the kid brother ,it's even worse ;only Philippe Noiret shines in his part of principal;music ,like it or not,occupies a tiny place in French curriculum ,but Gabrielle Lazure seems the only teacher (along with a caricature of French teacher) in the whole school ;her love affair with her pupil is given a mushy treatment ,and looks like a lite "Mourir D'Aimer "..

A memory to forget....